The highly anticipated Conference Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves is set to kickstart tonight at Target Center. While the Mavericks ousted the #1 seed in the WC, the Wolves climbed the Denver Nuggets-named mountain. Fans might be in for another long series as the two teams come in with different sets of strengths. However, for Skip Bayless, it’s a fairly easy contest. He picked the Mavericks to cruise past the Wolves in six games.
Advertisement
On the latest episode of ‘UNDISPUTED’, the media veteran gave his prediction and the reasoning behind how the games will play out. Bayless said,
“I’ll be the odd person out here, I’m gonna stick with the Mavericks and I will admit to you, there’s some heart involved here because I did love the Thunder and so I want the Mavericks to sort of validate the Thunder a little bit by going on to the NBA Finals.”
Even though both the teams are stacked with great players, who are in form at the moment, Bayless sees this series as a battle between three players.
He said that the series will be a “2 on 1” with Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic on one side, against Anthony Edwards. Bayless did acknowledge that Karl-Anthony Towns, Jaden McDaniels, and the Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert can’t be completely ignored but, in his opinion, the series will boil down to three individuals.
The 72-year-old believes that the Mavs’ exceptional offense, led by Irving, will put forth a great challenge for the Wolves.
.@RealSkipBayless is rocking with the Mavs winning in 6 games:
“They have 2 guys in Luka and Kyrie who are extraordinary at what they do.” pic.twitter.com/y7jfMldNkU
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) May 22, 2024
Bayless said, “I just love how he [Kyrie] is handling himself. He is the leader of this team, in ways Luka can’t be the leader, ’cause Luka’s sort of unto himself.”
As an overall great player, Doncic leads the team with 27.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 9.1 assists, and 1.4 steals, per game in the postseason. But his assessment seems on point because Uncle Drew also brings a ton of experience, along with his abilities with the ball.
The series is going to be a neck-to-neck battle. Fans believe it’ll go all the way through to Game 7 and the better team that day will advance to the NBA Finals. Contrary to Bayless’ opinion, Stephen A. Smith, on the recent episode of First Take stated that the Wolves will be the one to go to the last round.
Stephen A. Smith predicts the Timberwolves will win the series
The Mavs offense has been impressive since the beginning of the season. With some of the most elite scorers on the team, it’s an easy pick that they will dominate the game on that end. However, their defense has been a problem over the last few years.
In the recent episode of ‘First Take’, Stephen A. Smith said that even though Jason Kidd has got them to play good defense lately, it won’t be enough for the Mavs to control Anthony Edwards. He also said that the Wolves have a better defense.
.@stephenasmith is giving the edge to the Timberwolves to make it to the NBA Finals 😤 pic.twitter.com/L3B5fjhvJN
— First Take (@FirstTake) May 22, 2024
He said, “Me personally, I wanna give the edge to the Minnesota Timberwolves. I think their defense at times has been sensational, unlike anything that I’ve seen in the last 30 years.”
However, he is all praise for Doncic and Irving because the duo has been exceptional in the season, so far. So, even if the Mavs end up winning the series, SAS won’t be surprised, but for now, he is going all out with his bet on the Wolves and their defense.
